Friday, September 3, 2010

This past week I have been in Mishawaka, Indiana. This is where we have our interprovince novitiate. The Conventual Franciscans have five provinces in the United States, and we collaborate on some levels of our formation of the new friars coming into the order.

Remember a couple of months ago I preached a retreat to the new novices. This week I gave them and a group of five sisters from the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist a workshop on the four Gospels (for our Franciscan life is based upon those Gospels) and the Psalms (which we pray throughout the day in our recitation of the Divine Office. The psalms especially can be difficult to understand, for they were written between two and three thousand years ago, and their symbolism can be very foreign to us today. Yet, as a Church, we are praying these psalms throughout the world. There is not a minute throughout the day or night that someone is not praying for the Church and for us. That can be a real consolation, especially for those who are in difficulty and for some reason cannot seem to pray for themselves (e.g. when they are depressed).

Tomorrow I head back to Ellicott City. I have a couple of days off, and then a series of meetings with various people and various medical and dental appointments (have to get them in while I am home).

I have finished a few works. The first was a book on tape called Simple Genius by David Baldacci. I like his writing, but this probably is not his best work. It is a story of the murder of a genius at a research center which lie next door to a CIA training facility. Not a bad read, just not the best.

The second book was a taped version of the Matarese Countdown. This is by Robert Ludlum. Normally, I love his writing, but once again, this was not his best work. I just had the feeling that he "phoned it in," giving a substandard performance because he knew that he could sell books just by his name being on the cover.

A third book, a history, was excellent. It is called Operation Mincemeat by7 Ben Macintyre. It is the story of a hoax which the British Secret Service put over on the Nazi's during World War II. The allies were getting ready to invade Sicily, and everyone knew it. They were afraid that the opposition of the Italians and Germans would be too intense. Someone came up with the idea of dropping a dead body in the sea with false documents that implied that the allies intended to invade Greece and Sardinia instead. They dropped the body off of Spain, knowing that even though Spain was neutral, they were really secretly collaborating with the Nazi's. There is a nerve wracking section where the Spanish find the body, but refuse to turn the documents over to the Nazi's. The British don't know what to do, because the last thing that they could do is apply too much pressure or the Spanish and Germans might think that the documents are false. Fortunately, they eventually turn them over and the Germans fall for the trick.

PS Please remember that we are seeking some money to print a translation of my articles as a book in India (in the native language of Kerala, the region where kthe friars are located). We need $3,000. If you can help in any way, please send your donation to Evangelization Office; 12290 Folly Quarter Rd; Ellicott City, MD 21042.